'Shrooms

[HipsterDufus]

Mushroom Drug Produces Mystical Experience

- By MALCOLM RITTER, AP Science Writer

Monday, July 10, 2006

(07-10) 21:32 PDT New York (AP) --

People who took an illegal drug made from mushrooms reported profound mystical experiences that led to behavior changes lasting for weeks — all part of an experiment that recalls the psychedelic '60s.

Many of the 36 volunteers rated their reaction to a single dose of the drug, called psilocybin, as one of the most meaningful or spiritually significant experiences of their lives. Some compared it to the birth of a child or the death of a parent.

Such comments "just seemed unbelievable," said Roland Griffiths of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Baltimore, the study's lead author.

But don't try this at home, he warned. "Absolutely don't."

Almost a third of the research participants found the drug experience frightening even in the very controlled setting. That suggests people experimenting with the illicit drug on their own could be harmed, Griffiths said.

Viewed by some as a landmark, the study is one of the few rigorous looks in the past 40 years at a hallucinogen's effects. The researchers suggest the drug someday may help drug addicts kick their habit or aid terminally ill patients struggling with anxiety and depression.

It may also provide a way to study what happens in the brain during intense spiritual experiences, the scientists said.

Funded in part by the federal government, the research was published online Tuesday by the journal Psychopharmacology.

Psilocybin has been used for centuries in religious practices, and its ability to produce a mystical experience is no surprise. But the new work demonstrates it more clearly than before, Griffiths said.

Even two months after taking the drug, pronounced SILL-oh-SY-bin, most of the volunteers said the experience had changed them in beneficial ways, such as making them more compassionate, loving, optimistic and patient. Family members and friends said they noticed a difference, too.

Charles Schuster, a professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at Wayne State University and a former director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, called the work a landmark.

"I believe this is one of the most rigorously well-controlled studies ever done" to evaluate psilocybin or similar substances for their potential to increase self-awareness and a sense of spirituality, he said. He did not participate in the research.

Psilocybin, like LSD or mescaline, is one of a class of drugs called hallucinogens or psychedelics. While they have been studied by scientists in the past, research was largely shut down after widespread recreational abuse of the drugs during the 1960s, Griffiths said. Some work resumed in the 1990s.

"We've lost 40 years of (potential) research experience with this whole class of compounds," he said. Now, with modern-day scientific methods, "I think it's time to pick up this research field."

The study volunteers had an average age of 46, had never used hallucinogens, and participated to some degree in religious or spiritual activities like prayer, meditation, discussion groups or religious services. Each tried psilocybin during one visit to the lab and the stimulant methylphenidate (better known as Ritalin) on one or two other visits. Only six of the volunteers knew when they were getting psilocybin.

Each visit lasted eight hours. The volunteers lay on a couch in a living-room-like setting, wearing an eye mask and listening to classical music. They were encouraged to focus their attention inward.

Psilocybin's effects lasted for up to six hours, Griffiths said. Twenty-two of the 36 volunteers reported having a "complete" mystical experience, compared to four of those getting methylphenidate.

That experience included such things as a sense of pure awareness and a merging with ultimate reality, a transcendence of time and space, a feeling of sacredness or awe, and deeply felt positive mood like joy, peace and love. People say "they can't possibly put it into words," Griffiths said.

Two months later, 24 of the participants filled out a questionnaire. Two-thirds called their reaction to psilocybin one of the five top most meaningful experiences of their lives. On another measure, one-third called it the most spiritually significant experience of their lives, with another 40 percent ranking it in the top five.

About 80 percent said that because of the psilocybin experience, they still had a sense of well-being or life satisfaction that was raised either "moderately" or "very much."

[kellygrrrrrl]

I agree.

100%

[HipsterDufus]

I think the article is basically saying what anyone who's tried them already knows... Um, why are they illegal again?

[kellygrrrrrl]

You know......I have no idea.

Never researched it...but I just might now!

[HipsterDufus]

Probably because some rich white guy sent his kid off to Yale where he tried magic mushrooms for the first time and had an epiphany that maybe there was more to life than greed. Then he dropped out and daddy wasn't too happy. Coincidentally, daddy also had some important friends in congress. Sounds plausible enough to me...

Funny how the easiest-to-get drug in America is caffeine, something meant to make you work harder and faster. Coincidence? I think not.

[Steven]

still illegal.

used to mess up my guts. stanky too. Yes I got very very very high, very similar to an acid trip, which for several years was my drug of choice.

my take on it is that hallucenogenics in general, open certain windows, in general. and yes it is profoundly spiritual. but you also sort of "die a little" each time you fry. I've seen people chasing after that same vivid peak they had in vain, and then they just sort of never come back. I've seen that alot. to me its a form of mockery.

[HipsterDufus]

still illegal.

used to mess up my guts.  stanky too.  Yes I got very very very high, very similar to an acid trip, which for several years was my drug of choice.

my take on it is that hallucenogenics in general, open certain windows, in general.  and yes it is profoundly spiritual.  but you also sort of "die a little" each time you fry.  I've seen people chasing after that same vivid peak they had in vain, and then they just sort of never come back.  I've seen that alot.  to me its a form of mockery.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Agreed. Still doesn't really seem like a great reason for them to be illegal. Alcohol has done far worse to people.

[kellygrrrrrl]

I think you could be on to something there Hipster.... :laughing

I've only done them less than a handful of times.

Never did acid though....never will either...

Too scared to lose the control.

[Homicidalheathen]

I don't like them, and have done them enough to know.

Allot of white people have this motion sickness thing in their brains and it makes ya sick thus. Most native americans don't have that. Thats why it doesn't make them sick. They have generations of their bodies handling it so they sorta evolved with the plant.

But I do know a few white people who can do them and not get sickies.

[HipsterDufus]

I think you could be on to something there Hipster.... :laughing

I've only done them less than a handful of times. 

Never did acid though....never will either...

Too scared to lose the control.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I can count on my right hand how many times I've done them. They're the "hardest" stuff I've ever done. I was just reminiscing when I came upon that article.

[HipsterDufus]

I don't like them, and have done them enough to know.

Allot of white people have this motion sickness thing in their brains and it makes ya sick thus.  Most native americans don't have that.  Thats why it doesn't make them sick.  They have generations of their bodies handling it so they sorta evolved with the plant.

But I do know a few white people who can do them and not get sickies.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I never got sick. Not even really that uncomfortable, honestly...

[saechalyn]

Shrooms made me feel like god. It was awesome.

I've only done them 3 times, and I'd do it again but never make a regular habit of it or anything. I never got sick, and I was pretty worried about it because I usually get nauseous pretty easily. But we put them in peanut butter sandwiches and didn't even taste anything.

[BrassFusion]

Honestly, it's on my to-do list. My very very short to-do list, lol. There's a bunch of stuff I never plan to try because I think it could prove legitimately dangerous unlike weed or shrooms (going by what I've heard so far). I'm skeptical that any of those spiritual experiences were legitimately supernatural, and I don't believe that I'd have a supernatural experience if I tried a hallucinogenic drug. I do believe in fun, creativity, and self-awareness in small doses, though...

[HipsterDufus]

Honestly, it's on my to-do list. My very very short to-do list, lol. There's a bunch of stuff I never plan to try because I think it could prove legitimately dangerous unlike weed or shrooms (going by what I've heard so far). I'm skeptical that any of those spiritual experiences were legitimately supernatural, and I don't believe that I'd have a supernatural experience if I tried a hallucinogenic drug. I do believe in fun, creativity, and self-awareness in small doses, though...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I had what I regarded (during the trip) to be spiritual experiences. Looking back on them, I now view them as a psychological expansion and a way of helping me understand humanity more. Was I actually communicating with God/the universe/etc? I don't know. However, they left me with an expanded vision of the world that surrounds me. And for that, I am thankful.

[kellygrrrrrl]

I never got sick from them.....

I did get a little gassy though! :blushing oops!

I like them.

I think they are fun.

I will do them again.

Not often though, cause I can't sleep when I do....

I lay there and I see stuff even with my eyes closed, and then I focus on all the cool stuff I am seeing....and can't sleep...my mind is restless when processing.

Colors/patterns/waving patterns of colors....

You can SEE music.....

Yes very strange and makes one in tune with a lot of things and perspectives.

Very eye opening expirience for me.

I agree with you Hipster....and for that I am also thankful.

[ZhukovCodeslinger]

im going to have to pass if it makes you see music.... I listen to 140bpm or faster Techno (even have a couple hardcore albums that top 210bpm... they start to sound like buzzsaws at that point.... I cant imagine how bizzare that would be to "see"

[Gaf The Horse With Tears]

The world gets very pretty with shrooms.

[kellygrrrrrl]

The world gets very pretty with shrooms.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

nice explaination!

yes.

[kellygrrrrrl]

im going to have to pass if it makes you see music.... I listen to 140bpm or faster Techno (even have a couple hardcore albums that top 210bpm... they start to sound like buzzsaws at that point.... I cant imagine how bizzare that would be to "see"

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

:laughing

try listening to Pink Floyde or some trancy pretty music.

Chainsaws...yeah...that would be bad! :laughing

[Guest Game of Chance]

I'm not getting into the "why's" but I firmly believe that everyone, under the proper guidance of a qualified "tour guide", while in the proper mindset and with the correct dosage,should try a hallucinogen at least once in their lives.

[torn asunder]

I'm not getting into the "why's" but I firmly believe that everyone, under the proper guidance of a qualified "tour guide", while in the proper mindset and with the correct dosage,should try a hallucinogen at least once in their lives.

i agree with this...

[BrassFusion]

I need a damn tour guide I can trust, lol. Probably my sister would be the best option. No hurry, though.

[Homicidalheathen]

Ditto this, but I preferred acid to shrooms when I used to feel a need to trip even for spiritual reasons.

I no longer feel the need.

I'm not getting into the "why's" but I firmly believe that everyone, under the proper guidance of a qualified "tour guide", while in the proper mindset and with the correct dosage,should try a hallucinogen at least once in their lives.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

[Steven]

Agreed.  Still doesn't really seem like a great reason for them to be illegal.  Alcohol has done far worse to people.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'll giove you that one dude. Completely agree.

[HipsterDufus]

I need a damn tour guide I can trust, lol. Probably my sister would be the best option. No hurry, though.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's always situational. If you decide to do them at a frat party with a whole bunch of people you don't know surrounding, odds are good you're going to have a bad time. Every time that I have done them, I've been in a very controlled environment. I even did them in London back when fresh ones were still legal there, but I did them in my hotel room (with fun come-down effects in the pub afterwards). Basically, you have to respect the drug. You can't treat it like a party drug; it's something to be done with a lot of preparation.